"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad" ---- Rafael Sabatini

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Sundance - Overview & Final Thoughts

I had an incredible time.I’m hooked.It was my first time
at Sundance and my first time to a film festival.It won’t be the last.Most of the movies were very good to
excellent.I met an awful lot of
interesting people, most of which were in the movie industry.There were a lot of laughs.I saw a bunch of movies I probably would’ve
never seen had I not attended the festival.

My one nitpick: The sound in most of the theaters was too
loud and the top end (treble) was too hot.It wasn’t just me, either.I
heard the same complaint from several others.

What surprised me most?How FUCKING AMAZINGLY AWESOME the volunteers were.I’ve rarely met such a large group of
friendly, happy people.And they weren’t
getting paid!It was a pleasure to meet
them.

I also enjoyed getting to meet some of the film makers and seeing
their Q&A’s.All but two movies had
them.

How many movies did I see?27, and fewer than I hoped for but it's still an awful lot of movies. I'm not complaining.

I love the independent film spirit.It’s an environment of nurturing creativity
and encouraging success unlike Hollywood that wants to stifle it.My eyes are more open now than ever before,
from the people I’ve met to the films I’ve seen and the artists whose careers
I’ll follow.

I’m so grateful to my friend for this trip.It might have changed my life (let’s just see
what happens in the coming year).It’s
given me a boost of enthusiasm as a cinefile.For years I’ve been wanting to dick around and make short films, fake
movie trailers and stuff.In the next
couple of weeks I’m going to research and buy a good camera and equipment and
go to town making shit that makes me laugh and is entertaining.I’m not looking to say anything significant,
just to entertain.We’ll see.I may fall flat on my face but at least I
will have tried and had a great time doing it.My Summer is looking wide open and I can’t wait to fill it with a
passion project that’s been on the back burner for too many years.